SAS Australia’s Ant Middleton defends boxing match between Nick Cummins and Sabrina Frederick

SAS Australia fans were up in arms last week after witnessing a brutal fight between Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins and AFLW star Sabrina Frederick – with many insisting the Bachelor star shouldn’t have hit a woman.  

But Chief Instructor Ant Middleton, 39, has defended the controversial scene, insisting that Nick and Sabrina’s clash was fairly matched. 

‘I don’t go easy, there is no favouritism here,’ the former British soldier told Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa on Monday. 

‘It’s like, ‘Can you do the job?’. I don’t care what gender you are, it’s not about race, religion etc etc. Can you do the job, yes or no?’ he added. 

The tough-talking TV star also described Sabrina, 23, as a ‘hard a** woman’ who is ‘as tough as they come’, and insisted he’d much rather fight Nick, 33, than her.    

‘When she picked The Honey Badger [to fight against her], I was like, ‘Wow let’s see how this goes”, Ant recalled.  

‘Can you do the job, yes or no?’ Despite many viewers insisting the Bachelor star (right) shouldn’t have hit a woman, Ant insisted that Nick and Sabrina’s (left) clash was fairly matched 

‘And she did get a beating and people were expecting me to stop it… [but] I could see her getting stronger and stronger. By the end of it, The Honey Badger was stuffed’.

During last week’s season premiere of SAS Australia, Sabrina stunned audiences when she selected Nick to fight against her in a boxing match.  

Despite his initial hesitation, former international rugby union player Nick didn’t hold anything back as they went fist-to-fist, punching his opponent ferociously.  

Tough contender: The tough-talking TV star also described Sabrina as a ‘hard a** woman’ who is ‘as tough as they come’, and insisted he’d much rather fight Nick than her  

The scene attracted a flood of online backlash from viewers who believed Nick shouldn’t have hit the sportswoman. 

SAS Australia’s Roxy Jacenko has also publicly condemned the fight, telling The Kyle And Jackie O Show last Tuesday: ‘The Honey Badger had a choice. Should he have hit her back? Absolutely not.

Meanwhile, Sabrina as described her matchup with Nick in a far more positive light, calling it an ‘experience she will never forget’. 

Pleasantly surprised: ‘When she picked The Honey Badger [to fight against her], I was like, ‘Wow let’s see how this goes”, Ant recalled 

She explained in an Instagram post last Monday: ‘My whole life I have been fighting for equality. For people to treat all as equal, regardless of gender or race and that task was an opportunity for exactly that.

‘I volunteered and picked @nickbadger for two reasons. 1) I wanted to select the person I thought was the biggest challenge and 2) I knew our respect was mutual and he would give me a fair fight regardless of my gender.

‘I am truly grateful for him and that experience,’ she wrote, ‘Yes, I was scared, but that’s the whole point of SAS not letting the fear consume you, instead harnessing it to empower you.’

SAS Australia continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Seven.   

‘Should he have hit her back? Absolutely not ‘: SAS Australia’s Roxy Jacenko (pictured) publicly condemned the fight last Tuesday on The Kyle And Jackie O Show 

‘I knew our respect was mutual and he would give me a fair fight regardless of my gender’: Meanwhile, Sabrina as described her matchup with Nick in a far more positive light, calling it an ‘experience she will never forget’